Quick Clarity

“How do I know how much work my employees are doing?” “Why doesn’t my manager care about my needs?” Many organizations find themselves in conversations about returning to the office that are fraught or contentious. Some have already implemented a model following the disruptive period of the pandemic and are now dealing with the consequences of their choices. Others are still grappling with these decisions and contemplating how their policies should evolve. These conversations often devolve into the physical location where employees should be working. However, there is a more productive and enlightening discussion to be had—one that focuses on productivity and shedding light on leaders’ blind spots and fears. All executives and managers should strive to create a policy that suits their organization’s needs, rather than prioritizing their own preferences. In this episode of Quick Clarity, Angie D’Sa and Jeff Hunter dive into the topic of returning to the office and finding the right balance between working remotely or in person. Continue below for a full transcript of this episode, and join us as we explore: When to Start with You: Why the Right Goal Is Important: How to Increase Productivity:

In this episode of Quick Clarity, Angie D'Sa and Jeff Hunter delve into the topic of the speed of change, which is the fundamental problem that most businesses face. Join us as we explore: 1. What Is The Speed of Change: 2. Where Businesses Fail: 3. How to Have Both - Standards and Speed: 4. Why Fun Is Great, but Meaning Is Better:

In this episode of Quick Clarity, Angie and Jeff discuss a new job role CEOs are feeling increasing pressure to fill and leaving them asking… “Do I have to be a therapist for my employees?” “How do I motivate my team after experiencing a layoff?” Jeff tackles this question by sharing his reflections as a CEO, Hiring Manager, Coach, and Company Co-Founder. Angie outlines what questions to reflect on when looking to action and solve the systems creating these issues. For those who prefer to read, a full transcript of this episode is available after the Quick Links below. Quick Links “Am I a Therapist Now?” The short answer? Of course not! However, a few things come to mind when we examine this question. [2:45] - Generally, we don’t love generational analysis; however, a pattern seems to emerge here with older leaders we work with. Often when we delve deeper into the question, “Do I have to be a therapist for my employees” we find it is rooted in the past idea of work, the fear of being unable to meet the changing needs of the business world, and the confusion of how to solve the issues employees are raising. In the past, work was entirely used for economic security, often at the expense of autonomy, dreams, and potential. This created a system of suppression, which served as a form of submission to the whims of the current leadership. This is not a model employees want to continue operating under. [10:13] - When we hear people come to us with these questions, we refuse to believe that the entire employee base has suddenly become a group of weak creatures. We talk with so many leaders, and some are well-equipped for the current needs of modern businesses. Often inside the confusion these problems create emerges a BSL narrative of either attempting to blame yourself or others. We ask, is this a personal problem for you or a problem with a fundamental reality of human beings? This reality is not only actionable, but that understanding it becomes a massive advantage. Don’t get mad, don’t get even, get ahead. When your employees and team members come to you with their issues, they give you the most sacred thing imaginable—their trust. Trust is foundational to a successful modern business. People will follow their emotions no matter how hard we try or how many specialized systems we create. When someone provides you with the opportunity to build that trust, you have to be open to it and communicative, or you risk not only forgoing a chance at meaningful growth but causing damage to the organization itself. Unfortunately, you do not determine when or how this will happen, let alone if it will happen. The actual choice you are faced with when trying to avoid these scenarios is either [20:07] - We have a lot of empathy for leadership struggling with the added load of these expectations. We are not claiming that it is not difficult, and we are not expecting these changes to happen overnight. However, we are asking you to accept the reality of the situation you have placed yourself in. [22:33] - How do we investigate and solve the issues being brought to me? AcknowledgeAlways seek to understand before you are understood(for more methods on how to do this well, Jeff suggests checking out Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen CoveyBe a guide.[30:05] - How do I motivate my team after experiencing a layoff/RIF (Reduction In Force)? People often ask how I get my team back to work after experiencing a traumatic event. To be clear, the failure of leadership had to happen before the RIF for that to happen, so if you were incompetent as a leader before the RIF, what makes you competent afterward? The reality of being a leader is that you will make mistakes. If you are not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough. However, when you make mistakes, they affect the people around you. Simple mistakes for you can become profound mistakes for others. When you make a mistake, people don’t want to think you won’t make them;...

In this episode of Quick Clarity, Angie and Jeff respond to crowded-sourced questions circling the minds of CEOs like… Jeff tackles these questions by sharing his reflections as a CEO, Hiring Manager, Coach, and Company Co-Founder. Angie outlines the three steps to ‘Start With Me’ and how each creates the opportunity to unlock human potential. For those who prefer to read, a full transcript of this episode is available here. Quick Links [1:49] - Jeff Reflection “We all build our own prisons and then go hide in them. We're all in these prisons of our own making.” [7:18] - Three Steps to ‘Start With Me’ [12:10] - When it comes to turning emotional signals into constructive action. Everybody needs help, regardless of who you are. “I want to make a couple of things clear; I talked to my coach this morning. So everybody needs help.” Even Jeff talks to his coach!!! [15:20] - How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barret [16:56] - To build effective problem-solving habits, you must orient to the process, not the end goal. In the absence of self-awareness, attention is robbed by confusion, which reduces productivity dramatically. [29:05] - Personal Responsibility of a Leader “A group of people that exists in a hierarchy where one member of the group can exclude or fire or demote or castigate or otherwise harm a member of that group. If that person doesn't start demonstrating self-awareness, self-skepticism, personal responsibility...Why would you ever expect that of anybody else? And if nobody else is doing it, then you're tying your problem-solving hand behind your back.” [31:21] - Creating Psychological Safety = Greater Productivity. Psychological safety is a means, not an end! It’s the only way to actively harness the power of your whole team. “the end that's available when really pursuing creating an environment of psychological safety is much more well-informed, fast-moving problem-solving. Because people around a psychologically safe table are volunteering what's actually happening, not protecting themselves by putting forward what they think will look or sound best.”

In this episode of Quick Clarity Angie and Jeff explore how the talent market is evolving. Today employees’ expectations of their work experience and of their leaders are heightening. This creates inevitable, sometimes painful, confusion for leaders. Listen and read more below as we explore these great expectations, and how leaders can recognize their own confusion and adapt. What is Confusion? [02:10] Confusion is an endemic human experience, just like breathing, so assigning value in terms of “good” or “bad” is pointless. The mind only does what it is designed to do: predict outcomes. When those outcomes don’t match our reality, confusion ensues. Talentism sees confusion as an unconscious phenomenon that leads to feelings, not a conscious one that leads to thoughts, similar to the “fight, flight, or freeze” autonomic reactions. The modern world is more complex than ever before, and confusion permeates all things in adult life. Businesses must confront this confusing world and master it, especially high-speed growth/fast-change companies. The Expectations of Work [16:04] - People want meaningful and purpose-driven work[18:28] - People's expectations of management are going up, not down[19:56] - People want to build mastery towards a calling.[21:54] - People want autonomy and to express their individual contributions.[24:07] - People want meaningful relationships in the workplace. The Expectations of Leaders [28:25] - Leaders should be emotionally present and mature.[31:10] - Leaders need to bring a unique and compelling vision[32:00] - Leaders need to be clear-minded, excellent communicators.[33:26] - Leaders need to be trusted.[34:53] - People expect their leaders to take a stand on political and social issues Referenced: The AtlanticBowling alone

6 Key Principles Talentism Clarity Coaches use to unlock your company’s potential. Start with Synthesizing Safety Leads to Productivity Reorient to ProductivityEnsure Perpetual Three-Level Sync Design and Prioritize Leading IndicatorsConstantly Drive Learning Loops